Educational Improvement
Tax Credit Program
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) has certified the Foundation as a participating organization in the Commonwealth’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program. This program awards tax credits to businesses that make contributions to approved Educational Improvement Organizations (EIOs).
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Our Approved EITC Innovative Educational Programs:
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Mobile STEM Lab
The goal of this program is to transform the educational experience of 3rd-12th grade students by providing a new STEM curriculum delivered through tablet computers, a suite of probes and sensors, and a web-based platform linking to science and engineering simulations and applications. The need to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is increasingly seen as a national priority. This program has two key innovative features: one is the addition of technology and engineering to the standard math and science curriculum, and the other is the integration of the STEM disciplines using problem-based learning scenarios. Design challenges will motivate science and engineering learning and encourage students to use math to explain natural phenomena and derive technological solutions to problems. With this technology suite we will: infuse Weatherbug into student projects about weather; use Phet interactive simulations to get hands-on practice with a range of science concepts; use FOSS online resources to conduct investigations and observe, record and analyze data; and use WISEngineering online environment to guide engineering design projects that apply STEM concepts and skills. This integrated approach to STEM will stimulate and engage students with authentic real-world problems, will help align curriculum with the Pennsylvania Science Standards and Next Generation Science Standards, and will improve readiness for advanced work and careers in STEM-related fields.
Business Entrepreneurship Program
The Business Entrepreneurship Program will allow high school students the experience of developing, operating and managing a business enterprise from start to finish. This interdisciplinary series would take place over several months and across a broad range of subjects, simulating a real business development model. Teachers will guide and grade students on communicating with other “departments” (or classes) as they develop real world experience in multiple facets of business entrepreneurship. Using authentic assessments and Understanding by Design methodology, groups of students will manufacture products to sell in the school store and strive to be profitable. These mock businesses must design and promote the products, reacting to fluctuations in the market. Students in business classes will manage the accounting and finances of the enterprise. Best of all, this engaging, relevant, interdisciplinary collaboration will simulate workplace situations where teams interact via 3-D board technology to communicate with each other simultaneously in order to add information as the design process progresses.
Engineering Solutions: Prototypes and Product Design
By applying classroom engineering solutions to real world applications, this program will allow students to use technology integrated equipment such as a milling machine and 3D printer to design and create real solution prototypes. With the products they manufacture, engineering students will be able to see, feel - and more importantly - test and evaluate whether their products solve specific parameters. Their knowledge will be outsourced to robotics, engineering and 3D art classes in need of tailor-made parts. This innovation encourages interaction with peers or “clients”, collaboration, use of timelines, careful sketches and CAD drawings. Manufactured products can also be used by graphics design class for packaging and the photography class for product shots. The program presents vast employment options in the field of engineering and manufacturing and prepares high school students with a unique skill set to pursue careers in robotics, engineering and plastics with abundant job openings here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and beyond.
Shoot for the Stars Planetarium Program
The planetarium facility has been a unique and important part of the Upper Dublin science program for over 30 years and provides all students with multimedia learning experiences for not only the field of astronomy, but other disciplines as well. This advanced academic program incorporates many cross-curricular and student produced lessons which are innovative and not part of the regular curriculum. New digital-video programs and state of the art equipment will be purchased to continue to add new and up-to-date science and cross-curriculum lessons to the planetarium program to supplement and integrate with the regular instructional program. These new tools are necessary to reconfigure, renovate and equip the school owned planetarium in order to create the specialized environment integral to these advanced initiatives. These programs would service all grades K – 12 and would provide a different focus, delivery and methodology than what is currently available to students.
Advanced Geosciences
This program is the hands-on, intense study of the traditional geosciences of geology, meteorology, oceanography and astronomy. The courses emphasize applied technologies which form the cornerstone of geoscience research. Significant use of specialized computer hardware and software applications, satellite and other remote sensing systems allow students to forecast and track severe weather systems. Industry-specific equipment like SCUBA gear and GPS hardware add valuable experiences to future scientists and engineers as they explore both physical and biological marine science.
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